The Art Of Making A 10-Year Malt Whiskey In Weeks

In recent years, whiskey lovers have been
gifted with various new products. We are talking about the ones that
claim to produce high-end liquor in just a fraction of the time
usually required to age single malt spirits.

These distillers, instead of maturing the
whiskey for a decade or more in used
whiskey barrels, have a strong
feeling that they can replicate the quality and taste in a matter of
weeks.

The global whiskey consumption continues
to rise. So the question is could these new aging techniques be the
answer to preserving supply? Or are these claims just a claim and no
more? And even if the taste measures up, does the taste still
necessarily live up to the expectations of the crowd?

Recent innovators in this field
expose their liquors to a patented combination of light and heat to
speed up the aging process. Certain whiskey makers create whiskeys
and bourbons in high-pressure stainless steel tanks. These tanks mix
the spirit with new wood combinations and create unique flavors in
days.

An Australian distillery claims to
create a single malt spirit that has the “flavor identical to a
10-year-old whiskey”. But should we believe all these claims?

Let’s first have a look at the method of how brown liquors are made.

Here’s
the basic chemistry of making spirits

Whiskeys
come in different variants. You can find scotch whiskey, bourbon
whiskey, rye, and so on. All these are essentially produced with just
three simple ingredients: water, grain, and yeast.

The
grains:

The most commonly used grains in whiskey
production are barley, wheat, rye or corn.

Some spirits are subject to regulations,
such as Scotch whiskey. This must necessarily be produced from
malted barley. Bourbon must also be made from at least 51% corn.

The
first step in whiskey production is to germinate the grain in water.

This results in the release of enzymes
that break down starches in the grain into sugars.

This process is halted by drying, and
the “malt” is then collected before the sugars are redissolved
in water.

The next step involves the addition of
yeast to convert the sugars to alcohol. This stage ends and the brew
obtained contains about 8% alcohol.

The
next step is the distillation process.

In this process, different alcohols are
separated, and the fraction that contains ethanol is obtained.

This step is repeated until the fraction
obtained contains upwards of 70% ethanol, some water, and a rich
tapestry of chemicals that have been collected in the process.

The
next step is the transfer of the distillate into charred used whiskey
barrels for aging.

Here flavors such as vanilla, coconut,
and butterscotch are extracted into the whiskey.

During warm weather, the alcohol moves
through the charred wooden pores due to the increased pressure. All
the chemicals in the wood get absorbed and the impurities get
filtered out.

During cool temperature, the spirit
moves in the reverse direction repetitively. The liquor gets
filtered slowly through the used
whiskey barrels.

Here
are the factors that help whiskey aging the most!

1)
The used whiskey barrels
play a massive role in the maturation process.

The casks are usually charred on the
inside.

The charcoal that is left behind after
charring absorbs many of the chemicals that are a by-product of
distillation smoothing out the spirit.

The oak contains natural elements in
abundance.

Tannins from the oak are also
responsible for adding color to the whiskey.

The natural chemicals present within the
wood adds flavor.

A law even states that bourbon must
necessarily be poured only into virgin oaks casks.

Scotch whiskey industries buy used
whiskey barrels in abundance,
hence the previously held spirit also imparts additional flavor to
the scotch.

2)
Another factor that affects the taste is the size of the barrel.

The catalyst here is the surface area to
the content ratio of the used
whiskey barrels.

Smaller casks have a smaller content to
surface area ratio and therefore maturation occurs faster in small
barrels.

Other
reactions that occur during the maturation process are also
responsible. The wood tends to expand and contract with seasons as it
gets warmer and colder.

How
to speed up the chemistry?

People might get confused and their lack
of knowledge may bring them a conclusion that speeding up the aging
process is simply a case of extracting the flavors more quickly from
the used whiskey barrels.
They may be right, but the chemistry
is more complex than that.

New molecules are created during chemical
reactions. Out of these, many of the molecules are credited with the
properties of the longest aged whiskeys.

These people can be considered as the
greatest chemists by whiskey-lovers. These brave innovators are
using science to try and speed up the process.

The development of innovative aging
vessels that are coupled with clever manipulations of light and
temperature have been tested and found to achieve authentic results
in expeditious time.

Also, there are other innovative
approaches. People are even using ultrasound to do this task.

It can be considered the most innovative
approach currently as it is getting much-deserved attention.

The underlying phenomenon that drives
these reactions is called acoustic cavitation.

Acoustic cavitation is the formation,
growth, and collapse of microscopic bubbles under the influence of a
sound field.

Blasting spirits with ultrasound have
proved that it speeds up the aging process of spirits and also
accelerates the formation of certain esters that give spirits their
unique taste.

However, there are certain regulations
that we feel you
should know. The
spirits that have been aged this way cannot be sold with the names of
familiar spirits. This is just because of the reason that these
spirits did not undergo the regulated minimum aging process.

But how do they taste?

Now that you know the chemistry of fast
liquor which seems effectively sound, but how does it taste?

In research at the Food Safety and
Measurement Facility at the University of California, “chemical
fingerprint” of 60 American whiskeys was mapped.

This study identified 30 to 50 specific
compounds responsible for differentiating the taste of one drop from
another.

Ester molecules are formed when
chemicals such as isopropanol react with fatty acids. Ester
molecules are responsible for imparting many of the classic whiskey
flavors.

Using ultrasonic waves can also help
these ester-forming reactions to potentially yield unique flavors
that are different from the conventionally aged spirits.

So now the question that arises is should
fast liquors be given a chance?

Alcohol lovers take no offense when
offered fast liquors to drink. After all, they are just alcohol and
water with a handful of trace flavor molecules!

All the Brewers have to do is strike the special balance between dreamy whiskeys while hastening the aging process.

These technologies no doubt have helped
humanity by helping us rethink and reinvent a whole new spectrum of
flavors and experiences.

No matter what, barrels
play an important role in the whiskey making process.
From Scotland to Brewers in the eastern part of the globe, you will
always find a thankful attitude of people towards barrels. Barrels
are being used by people to age their spirits and some have even
started using them as decorative pieces in their homes and secret
spots.

Did you enjoy learning about the oak barrel and their role in aging as well as fast aging?

Are you interested to buy an oak barrel
for yourself? Rocky Mountain believes that barrels are not just for
aging spirits. Besides aging, there are so many diverse ways in which
wine barrels can be put to use in your home or business. To know all
these and buy one barrel for yourself contact Rocky
Mountain Barrel Company now!

A testimonial by Jeffrey Stuffings
states:

“Rocky Mountain Barrel Company is an absolute joy to work with and their barrels are exceptional. They simply will not allow their customers to walk away feeling less than excellent about their experience.”

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What’s This?

Due to barrel aging conditions some barrels will be older and more prone to leaks

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